thunderstorms basics and hazards. is the atmosphere stable or unstable?
TRANSCRIPT
Thunderstorms
Basics and Hazards
Is the atmosphere stable or unstable?
Classroom Resources
Heating from below creates convection (bubbling up) because warm fluids (water, air) want to rise to be on top of cold
Is the atmosphere stable or unstable?
Details on Instability/Stability
Details on Instability/Stability
Details on Instability/Stability
Details on Instability/Stability
Details on Instability/Stability
So let’s compare …
Temperature
of the atmosphere
vs.
Temperature
of future
thunderstorm
(parcel of air)
Red (dry) & Blue (condensing): how air parcel changes
As parcel goes up, cools & reaches the dew point
At the Lifting Condensation Level
Temperature decrease in lapse rate lessens because latent heat is
released with condensation
Graph it out
Is parcel or the surrounding air warmer?
At 1500 m? 2500m?
Mountains in summer often have very unstable air
LAPSE RATES:WALR – condensing (wet)DALR – not yet
condensing (dry)ELR - surrounding air
(environment)
Opposite: air parcel colder so colder air wants to stay
Extreme state of stability: inversion where bottom of atmosphere is
colder than air above
Stable is Warm on Cold
Normally, its warmer closer to Earth. But if its colder, the condition is called
an inversion layer (inverse is opposite of normal) that is very stable
Inversions trap air pollution
Central Valley
California from space
Salt Lake City
Inversions trap air pollution
China
Lapse Rate Changes Explain Rainshadows
Can see evaporation of clouds as air descends and warms
Grand Canyon Anza Borrego
Classroom Resource
Animation shows more “action” (heat) as gas is compressed – so as air descends, more molecular friction and the air heats
Warming Winds have Regional Names
Not from raining out moisture,but descending & warming air
Sierra Nevada, California Andes Mountains
Tibetan Plateau in the “lee” of Himalaya Mountains
Back to Thunderstorms & Instability
Classroom Resources
Heating from below creates instability, leading to thunderstorms …
Can also generate lift other ways
Instability leads to quick change(full life cycle usually about 30 minutes)
Cumulus Mature Stage
Cumulonimbus: Mature Stage
End of Thunderstorm
Geography of Thunderstorms (as seen through lightning): most common around intertropical
convergence zone
Geography of Thunderstorms(as mapped by lightning)
Most common in Florida
Summer moisture key to this geography
Classroom Resources:Movies of Thunderstorm
development in the afternoon in Florida after lots of surface heating
Arizona (Mexican) Monsoon is Thunderstorm Season
• Storms are spotty
• Often start at the Mogollon rim
Five recent severe monsoon events
Hazard: Dust Storms (haboob)
Texas Australia
Middle EastTempe
Classroom Resources
Hazard: Microbursts
Classroom Resource
Not tornadoes – straight line winds
Tornado winds are
upward spiral
Damage is in a line
Microburst hazard: Flying
Doppler Radar
detects the hazard
Hazard: Flash Flooding
Hazard: Hail
Sizes Differ
Damage ($1B/yr) from size and speed (> 100 mph)
Sydney, AustraliaBlue tarps
Corn in Illinois
Ouch!
Hazard: Tornadoes
Tornado comes from severe Tstorms
Rotating Thunderstorms
Where?
Focus: East of Rocky Mtns
Greensburg Kansas, Spring 07
Why East of Rocky Mtns?
Where cold/dry and warm/moist air masses collide
Why Spring (and Fall)?
When biggest contrast in cold/warm air masses occur
Rotation important in damage
Flying objects big danger (record)
1) Pay attention to watches and warnings
2) Don’t risk outrunning them3) If caught in the open, find a
low place away from streams
4) If in a car, get out. Most deaths occur in cars and mobile homes.
5) If in a building, head to the lowest floor, center of the building and smallest room
Avoid Overpasses
Classroom Resources
Classroom Resources
Classroom Resources
Lots of Tornado Visualizations:
• http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/visualization/collections/tornados.html
Hazard: Lightning
Distribution
As soon as the positive and negative parts of the stepped leader and traveling spark connect, there is a conductive path to the ground and negative rush causes visible stroke
Look at case story
of 1 hit
Lots of travelling sparks trying to connect
The chosen
path
Even a failed
stepped leader
You tube video shows traveling spark (luckily, not ‘chosen’ to connect with return stroke)
Normal Lightning Types
Cloud to Ground Cloud to Cloud and
Intracloud
Other Types of Lightning
Online Resource
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/05/0504_060504_lightning_video.html
Thunder
• Caused by extreme heat of lightning, causing air to expand.
• Sound travels 1 mile in 5 seconds, so 30 seconds means lightning is 6 miles away
• Close thunder will crack or snap. Far thunder will rumble as the sound arrives at different times from different parts of the lightning flash
Lightning Myths
Other Myths
Other Myths#5: People struck DO NOT carry and
electrical charge. Call 911 and do CPR, if necessary.
#6: If it is not raining, lightning can still strike you, as faras 10 milesfrom rain
Lightning SafetyTeach the “30-30” rule: Go in when you
count 30 seconds between lightning & thunder (6 miles). Go back out after 30 minutes
Lightning Fatalities
Get inside (but where?)
• Not picnic shelters, beach shacks, golf shelters, camping tents, baseball dugouts
• A safe building means fully enclosed with roof, walls like home, school, or shoping centers
• A safe vehicle is a hard-topped car (not a convertible) and making sure all doors closed, windows rolled up, and not touching metal surfaces
Boating: No!!
• But if you are stuck,get in the cabin away from metal
• If you are scuba diving, stay deep for duration of the storm
If you are outside
Avoid tall isolated trees
If you are outside• Avoid wet ropes or metal fences. They
both make good conductors of electricity
If you are outside
• Stay 15 feet apart from other members of your group, so lightning won’t travel between you if hit. Keep your feet together and sit on the ground out in the open.
Some Last Resort Choices
• Wait below an overpass (avoiding steel girders and your bike)
• Seek shelter directly underneath high voltage electrical tension wires, but stay 50 feet or more away from the towers
• Find a low spot or ditch (but not a stream, to avoid flash flooding)
Inside your home
#1: Avoid contact with corded phones#2: Avoid contact with electrical equipment or
cords. Unplug your equipment well before the storm arrives
#3: Avoid contact with plumbing. Don’t wash your hands. Don’t take a shower. Don’t do the dishes or laundry
#4: Stay away from windows, doors and porches#5: Don’t like on concrete floors or lean against
concrete walls
Classroom ResourcesPosters and Visualizations from NWS
http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/multimedia.htm
http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/teachers.htm
Imagery seen in this presentation is courtesy of Ron Dorn and other ASU colleagues, students and colleagues in other academic departments, individual illustrations in scholarly journals such as Science and Nature, scholarly societies such as the Association of American Geographers, city,state governments, other countries government websites and U.S. government agencies such as NASA, USGS, NRCS, Library of Congress, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service USAID and NOAA.c